Accommodations

A reasonable accommodation is a legally mandated modification or service that gives an otherwise qualified student with a disability an equal opportunity to the educational process. Accommodations should be viewed as adjustments to how things are traditionally done. They allow students with disabilities to equally obtain, engage, and utilize the educational environment available to students without a disability. Accommodations do not alter what is being taught nor do they alter the fundamental learning objectives or requirements of a course or program. From one perspective, accommodations can be grouped into the following categories:

• Changes to a classroom environment or task that permit a student with a disability to participate in the educational process without altering the requirements

• Removal of physical architectural and classroom barriers

• Modifications to policies, practices or procedures that do not alter the fundamental aspects of the course, environment, or university

• Provision of auxiliary aids and services

Accommodations do not lower academic standards or compromise the integrity of an academic program. Academic, conduct and technical standards will always be maintained.

Reasonable Accommodation Process

While some disabilities require similar accommodations, SAS will assess each student’s disability as an individual experience and will work to identify their specific barriers to access. Because of this, accommodations are tied to a barrier for access as a result of the disability and not strictly to the disability.  With student involvement, SAS will collaborate to identify the barriers and the most appropriate accommodations to remove those barriers without altering the fundamental requirements or learning objectives of a course, program, or the University. For information about specific accommodations, please view our Exams, Housing, Dining, and Campus Access pages.